The Simpsons believes in The A.V. Club bump

TV Club Power Rankings are The A.V. Club’s way of demystifying television ratings—while also claiming some of the authority of those ratings for ourselves. The power rankings formula pulls the numbers from TV’s most-trusted ratings source, Nielsen, and combines them with our own community and editorial metrics. It’s not a method of predicting what TV shows will be canceled or renewed, but it does demonstrate the series that have staying power in the eyes of The A.V. Club and its readers. This edition covers December 6-12, 2012

The A.V. Club bump, that mythical force that can push a film toward a modest finish in the box office race, apparently also works for television. Of course, when it comes to the TV Club Power Rankings, the goodwill of the publication and those who read it can translate directly into success: With a “B+” from Robert David Sullivan, a “B” from the readers, and placement on the weekly “What We Watched” chart, The Simpsons was able to sneak past such higher-rated fare as Person Of Interest and Survivor to enter the power rankings’ top 5 this week. Of course, those warm feelings may also have something to do with the A.V. Club cameo embedded in “The Day The Earth Stood Cool—in which case The A.V. Club takes full credit for The Simpsons besting the next highest power rankings contender, How I Met Your Mother, in the advertiser-preferred 18-49 demographic. But do these healthy numbers have anything to do with active cameos by Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, and Patton Oswalt? Well, as a great man once said, a little from column A, a little from column B.

The Christmas episode of Parenthood had trouble retaining viewers from its lead-in, the new game show Take It All, as well. Viewership and its rating in the “demo” improved from last week, however—it presumably helped that the Braverman’s were battling the mobsters of Vegas rather than Victoria’s Secret models this time around.

Conclusive proof that television viewers prefer a wedding to a funeral (and a surprise wedding): Jack Donaghy’s epic, Muppet-assisted eulogy for his mother attracted 390,000 fewer viewers than the Lemon-Chross nuptials.

Happy Endings outdrew New Girl—and, in fact, all of the Fox Tuesday-night comedies—in terms of viewers during the early parts of its season, but that trend has reversed in the last two weeks. But it’s never beat Jess and company among adults under 50, suggesting ABC entered into the Tuesday comedy fray with less-than-Kerkovich-like cunning.

When the zombies are away, the serial killer will play—if only it weren’t for those pesky Real Housewives. Dex had difficulty maneuvering past the reality franchise this past weekend, but an upcoming dual-finale night on Showtime just might catapult it and/or Homeland to the Sunday-night throne vacated by The Walking Dead.